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AJK govt requisitions army troops for polls

Islamabad—The government and Election Commission of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) have requisitioned Pak Army troops for con-duct of general elections scheduled on July 21under Article 245 of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Section 4 and 5 of the Antiterrorism Act 1999 (XXVll of 1997).
Commander of Rawalpindi Corps Lt General Malik Zafar Iqbal on Tuesday held separate meetings with Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Ghulam Mustafa Mughal and government officials of AJK including Chief Secretary Sikandar Sultan Raja and Inspector General Police (IGP) Malik Khuda Bux. Conduct of elections would remain responsibility of Election Commission and that of law and order with Civil Administration / Police in all 41 constituencies including 12 reserve seats across rest of the country.
Army will assist Election Commission AJK in conduct of elections. Army will also assist the government of AJK in maintaining law and order by deployment of troops inside and outside the polling stations.
Muzaffarabad: Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Justice Ghulam Mustafa Mughal has said that strict security measures have been adopted to ensure free, fair and transparent elections in the region, polling for which, will be held on July 21 from 8 am to 5 pm without any break.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, he said army would take control and supervise the security of polling staff and voters besides transportation of the polling material in 29 constituencies in Azad Kashmir while federal ministry of interior would be responsible for security arrangements in 12 refugees constituencies located in Pakistan.
“Approximately 36 thousand personnel of army, rangers, frontier constabulary (FC) and police have been deployed in 29 constituencies in AJK to maintain security at polling stations while the quick response backup force will be available in the radius of 10 miles of each polling station besides patrolling contingents of army and police,” the CEC said.
He said more than 2.6 million voters would cast the vote to elect 49 legislators, out of which, 2.23 million were in Azad Kashmir and a total of 23,394 polling staff including 4462 presiding officers, 6310 polling officers and 12622 polling assistants were posted to conduct the polling.—APP